Chicken
by MidnightTwi
Summary: Modern AU: Thor finds some new friends and Loki tags along...thing is, Thor's friends don't exactly like Loki. So to prove a point, Loki stands to taunt Death while Thor and his friends watch. Will Thor chose to save a fake friendship he believes in, or his weakening brotherhood?


Every kid only wants to be accepted by someone; just one person showing how they mean to them is enough to feel on top of the world. In society nowadays it has become competition to have friends, losing the meaning of a real friendship or brotherhood. Some kids will do everything to be accepted into fake relationships, if only just to not be seen as friendless.

Sometimes it takes a while for one to see that their 'friends' are not real. Sometimes someone else has to show them. Sometimes, that person never sees the truth and they lose all that is dear to them for an illusion of a friendship.

It was a crystal clear day; no clouds, perfect weather, a good day to be fooling around with friends. Granted if one had any. One particular family had just moved in a week before, and school was not in session to permit socializing. This family, the Odinsons, had two young boys starving for friendship, and by the order of their father they were sent to the park to find some three days after moving in.

The eldest brother, Thor, had attracted a group of early-teens his age and had been accepted into their group right away. The youngest, Loki, had stayed on the bench with a handheld video game known as a Gameboy Advanced. This wasn't such a shock to Loki; he had realized that he and his brother were opposites. Thor was tall and muscular, blonde, had blue eyes, and wore graphic T-Shirts of sports and bands. Loki was average size, rather skinny, black-haired, had green eyes, and wore simpler shirts but did have some graphic Tee's of music and such. Even their favorite colors were complete opposites; Thor liked red while Loki liked green.

On this day, Thor had invited Loki-again-to visit with their-his-friends. Loki usually declines, but after their mother spoke with her youngest he agreed if only to make her happy. Loki wasn't antisocial or autistic, he didn't hang out with Thor's friends because he just didn't like them. He knew they didn't like him either, so why bother? But now he was walking behind Thor while the blonde conversed with a tall, skinny kid with brown hair, also known as Jet. Loki kept his head forward, his eyes on the ground but he continued listening on their conversation.

"And then the guy was looking around like 'what the heck is this kid saying?' and I got the ice cream for free!" Jet finished before laughing his lungs out.

"That is comical, Jet." Thor replied, chuckling while Loki rolled his eyes.

Everyone in their group was laughing besides Loki. Sure, there were only four other people, not counting Thor and Loki, but apparently it was enough for Jet to notice it. He glanced over his shoulder to glare at the youngest before turning to Thor.

"Hey, your brother is kind of weird."

"What?" Thor asked, causing Loki to glance up with his eyes. A boy with blonde hair joined in with Jet.

"Yeah, why'd ya bring him? He's no fun, all he does is daydream."

Loki put his gaze back on the ground, trying not to glare. The others thought he was daydreaming, so they didn't lower their voices any. He waited for Thor to join them.

"Maybe my brother likes daydreaming. He always comes up with the best ideas." Thor said.

"Heh, well if he spoke more we'd believe you." The other blonde named Mark said.

"Is he the Sir Shyness?" Jet asked which caused the rest of the group minus Thor and Loki to laugh. Loki felt his cheeks burn.

"And he's so boring!" A boy with a black Mohawk exclaimed.

"My brother is not scared to speak!" Thor growled. "And he is quite interesting if you know him."

Loki smiled while Mark tried to persuade Thor that he was boring. He knew his brotherhood with Thor was stronger than most, and Thor thought only great things about Loki. But he still felt that these 'friends' would one day come between their bond and what would Loki have? He tuned back in to hear a reply from Thor.

"Well, I suppose he doesn't speak to you as much as he does me...Perhaps he is intimidated."

At that, Loki couldn't help but to glare holes into the ground. He was not scared or 'intimidated' by Jet and his no-good group, he simply hated them.

I can't believe Thor believes that, Loki thought, He knows me better.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by an arm around his shoulders; Jet's arm around his shoulders. Loki quickly sent him a glare which was ignored.

"Yo, Loki, you don't need to be scared of me y'know!" Jet greeted cockily.

"I am not scared of you." Loki replied with a glare, his voice coated in venom.

"Oh? You're not?"

"Of course. Why would I be scared of something so stupid?"

"BROTHER!" Thor exclaimed, hoping Jet didn't catch it.

"Did you just call me stupid?"

Yep, Jet caught it and sent a glare at the youngest. Loki smirked but faked a surprised look.

"Of course not! I am simply stating that fearing you would be stupid."

"So you're not afraid of anything, now are you?"

"Everyone has one fear, and you are not it. I am not a chicken, Jet." Loki said, losing interest in angering the teen. A horn sounded and Jet looked over at the train tracks, smirking, and turned back to Loki.

"Not a chicken, huh? Want to prove that?" He didn't even wait for Loki to reply or for Thor to change the subject. "We have this little game to prove if you're a chicken or not. Stand on those train tracks and stay there. Don't jump out of the way until its kissing you, and then we'll believe you're not a chicken."

"Jet, no. That is dangerous!" Thor warned.

Jet waved his hand at Thor, as if fanning away the danger. "Don't be silly, we've all done it a ton and we're fine. Loki only has to do it once. It brings instant coolness, bro."

"Loki is not doing this!" Thor argued.

"You are not the boss of me, Thor." Loki said before nearing the tracks, the horn of the train drowning out his brother's protests. Really, it seemed simple enough, so why should Loki be scared? He stood in the middle of the tracks and faced the oncoming train that wasn't too close yet. The other boys lined up alongside the tracks, watching Loki with interest.

With every inch the metal beast neared, Thor felt his heart speed up. Why would Loki agree to this? He was too smart for such activities. He hoped that Loki had a plan for this already, putting all of his trust in this moment.

Loki watched as the train came closer at him, timing the second he should jump out of the way. He trusted in his mind, his plans and ideas were usually stellar. But suddenly, once the train was nearly five feet on front of him, his plans and mind muted and all he thought was _There's a freaking train coming at me. _He didn't even hear Thor's protests of "Ok Loki this isn't funny", "Loki, really, this is stupid", "Brother, move now!", or the yell of "LOKI!". All Loki saw was a giant metal bringer of death coming right at him, and he couldn't even command his legs to run. The last thing he witnessed before being hit was the detail of the front of the train, his brother with a mortified expression, and hearing the last warning sound of the horn before he felt his body being pushed and fell into darkness.

He was dead, Loki knew it was next to impossible to survive such a stupid act and the darkness proved it. He had died, and he had failed to prove that his plans were trustworthy to Thor. He was a chicken and he died to prove it. His back hurt, was pain supposed to be felt in death? Wait, he felt something on top of him, was he still alive? No, the train hit him, he's dead. Hold on, when did he close his eyes?

Loki slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see more darkness or something supernatural, but instead he was surrounded by blue. His vision was blurry and unfocused for a moment before he finally saw the blonde framing the blue eyes. He became aware of the warm liquid on his cheeks before he finally realized he was _alive_. He saw that he was lying on the ground next to the train tracks, the train he was sure hit him rushing by with Thor above him. Once his common sense returned to him, Loki connected the dots. Thor had tackled him out of the way, the train didn't hit him. Thor _saved_ him, dove in front of a train for him.

Thor watched, waiting for his younger brother to move after tackling him out of the way of the train. Loki was so still, his eyes closed peacefully. It was like he was dead. No, Loki was alive he /had/ to be alive! Thor would go insane if he failed to save him, he couldn't imagine living the rest of his life with Loki dead. He placed a hand on the other's chest, feeling the quickened heartbeat to reassure himself that Loki was alive. But he didn't truly believe himself even when Loki opened his eyes; the green irises were too unfocused to be sure. Once Loki looked at Thor, really looked at him, and started crying he relaxed.

"Thank God!" Thor breathed, becoming aware of his own tears and quickly collected the younger in his arms. Loki clung onto his shoulders, fingers tangled in the red fabric of his shirt and body shaking with sobs from the near death experience, the train rushing behind them with the wind from it hitting them.

Thor was still whispering calming words when the train ended and his 'friends' joined them from the other side of the tracks.

"Thor! Bro, we thought we lost you there!" Jet exclaimed, putting a hand on a small sliver of Thor's shoulder that wasn't covered by a terrified sibling. Thor looked up to glare at the ringleader of his brother's almost-death.

"Were you not scared for my brother when the train you persuaded him in front of nearly killed him?"

"What? That's part of the game! You jumping in front of the damn thing wasn't!" Jet countered, "C'mon, bro, how can you be so stupid?"

At that, Thor sent him a glare that could freeze wildfires before moving one arm under the bend of Loki's legs and the other on his back to carry him bridal style. Loki's face was buried in his neck, not daring to loosen his grip. Thor stood and held his glare on Jet.

"I am not your brother. Loki's my brother, and your game almost killed him."

"What? Thor-"

"We are leaving; do not expect to 'see us later'."

The small group stared as Thor walked by them, his brother in his arms as he stepped over the would-be grave and started home. By that time, Loki's sobs had calmed but he continued to shake.

"Wh-Why would you d-do that?" Loki asked as Thor walked. "Y-You idiot."

"Why do you say that? I almost lost you...It was horrible, watching you nearly kill yourself. I would not just stand by and let you fall; I will always hang onto you, Brother."

"...And if I l-let go? Would you mourn?"

Thor stopped and looked down, realizing now the reason for Loki's burst of bad decisions. Loki really thought they would drift apart, and those 'friends' almost made exactly that happen. Thor gently kissed the younger's forehead mostly to reassure himself.

"Of course I would. We all would." Thor replied, Loki looking up at him.

Green met blue and their bond remained unbroken, if anything it was stronger. A fake friendship almost shattered such a moment, but they knew better friends could be found. No one could replace what they had.

* * *

_**I had to go on freakin vacation for a while and I couldn't work on my usual stories or arts...so I wrote a little one-shot to pass the time. This idea has been in my head since forever, and I do enjoy Thorki so ta-da! If it sucks, well...sorry I wrote this all on my phone. :/**_

_**Tell me how I did on my first Thorki fic. :3 If you want... Thor punches Jet for every review.**_

_**-MidnightTwi**_


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